{"text":[[{"start":7.65,"text":"Tencent is in talks to become the largest shareholder of Manus as investors race to unwind Meta’s $2bn acquisition of the AI agent start-up after Beijing ordered that the deal be reversed."}],[{"start":21.05,"text":"Most of Manus’s former investors, including Tencent, ZhenFund and HSG, as well as the company’s management, are discussing backing a deal that would unwind Meta’s acquisition at the same $2bn valuation, according to two people familiar with the talks."}],[{"start":37.3,"text":"The discussions remained ongoing and could also include new investors, while some former backers, including US venture capital firm Benchmark, were unlikely to participate, the people said. Details are yet to be finalised as talks are ongoing."}],[{"start":51.949999999999996,"text":"Tencent is expected to buy the largest stake in the transaction but remain a minority shareholder. Manus would continue to operate independently from Singapore rather than be folded into Tencent’s business, the people added."}],[{"start":63.349999999999994,"text":"Tencent shares fell 1 per cent in Hong Kong on Thursday after the news was published."}],[{"start":69.25,"text":"The reversal of Meta’s acquisition marks a significant escalation in Beijing’s efforts to keep China’s leading AI companies and talent under domestic control as competition with the US intensifies."}],[{"start":81.85,"text":"China ordered Meta to unwind its $2bn acquisition of Manus in April, citing breaches of investment rules. Founders of Manus, including Xiao Hong, have been restricted from leaving the country after being summoned for a meeting in Beijing."}],[{"start":97.14999999999999,"text":"Meta bought Manus in December 2025, months after the company moved its headquarters and core engineers to Singapore from China, where it was originally founded."}],[{"start":107.1,"text":"Officials described the transaction as a “conspiratorial” attempt to hollow out China’s technology base, the FT previously reported. "}],[{"start":115.19999999999999,"text":"Meta quickly folded Manus into its platform, including its advertising systems. It has now separated the operations and stopped data sharing, according to people familiar with the moves, though a formal financial unwinding has yet to take place.Ordering the deal to be unwound also serves as a warning to other Chinese technology companies against using Singapore as a staging post for eventual sales to US buyers."}],[{"start":142.5,"text":"Investors backing the buyout are betting Manus can continue growing independently and eventually list in Hong Kong."}],[{"start":148.9,"text":"Manus reached annual recurring revenue of close to $500mn earlier this year, up sharply from the time of the Meta acquisition, the people said. Whether it could sustain that growth outside Meta’s ecosystem remained uncertain, one person cautioned."}],[{"start":162.25,"text":"Any Hong Kong listing would probably require Manus to restructure to satisfy Chinese regulators, the people said."}],[{"start":169,"text":"Tencent, which has a longstanding relationship with Manus and its founder Xiao, is betting a larger stake in Manus could have synergies with its own push into AI agents."}],[{"start":180.05,"text":"“Beyond foundation models, it has become increasingly evident that agentic AI represents a breakthrough use case,” said Tencent’s president Martin Lau in an earnings call with analysts in May. “Our platform inherently has many benefits of hosting AI agents.”"}],[{"start":196.3,"text":"Tencent is testing an embedded agent in WeChat, the ubiquitous app used by China’s 1.4bn people for everything from messaging and social media to ride-hailing and payments."}],[{"start":208.95000000000002,"text":"Xiao was among the first external users invited to test the feature when Tencent rolled it out to a small group of experts for feedback, the people said."}],[{"start":217.70000000000002,"text":"Before Manus, Xiao’s previous start-up was a customer relationship management platform based on the WeChat ecosystem. "}],[{"start":224.95000000000002,"text":"Tencent, Manus and ZhenFund did not respond to requests for comment. Meta and HSG declined to comment."}],[{"start":232.4,"text":"Additional reporting by Cheng Leng in Beijing and Hannah Murphy in Santa Barbara"}],[{"start":244.5,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783676976_9622.mp3"}